Air force hockey coach ranks no. 20

0 Comments | Gazette, The (Colorado Springs), Aug 5, 2008 | by mILO F. BRyANT

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It's difficult to talk with Frank Serratore for more than five minutes without laughing about something he says. It's even more diffcult to look at his body of work as the Air Force Falcons ice hockey coach and not be awed.

Serratore took a program that didn't even play a full Division I schedule and made it matter on a national scale. The Falcons played a mixture of Division I and III teams when Serratore took over the program in 1997. Last year, the fifth season with a full Division I schedule, the Falcons had a winning record against nationally ranked opponents, including a decisive 5-2 victory over the No. 4 ranked University of Denver Pioneers -- the program that Serratore was ffred from in 1994. The Falcons finished the 2006-07 season with a 6- 1 victory over service academy rival Army to win the Atlantic Hockey Association Tournament title and earn an automatic spot in the NCAA Tournament. At the West Regional, the Falcons were a little more than eight minutes away from shocking the college hockey world.

The Falcons held a 3-1 lead over the No. 1 seed Minnesota Gophers. The Gophers won 4-3, but the game showed that the Falcons had arrived.

Serratore's 2007-08 team backed the previous year's exploits by setting a school season record for Division I victories (21) and returning to the 16-team tournament.

It was the first time in AFA history that a team posted back-to- back tournament championship victories.

In the 2008 tournament, Miami (Ohio) was the tournament's top overall seed.

The Falcons took the Red Hawks to overtime before falling 3-2. Serratore has taken the Falcons from the "have nots" to the "haves." The past two seasons have been the best in 40. Serratore makes this list for making Air Force Hockey matter. --

Columnist Milo Bryant can be

reached at 636-0252 or milo.bryant@gazette.com. Check out Milo's

blog, The Extra Milo, at milobryant.

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